Bake the Babka
Babka has been on my list to make for months and months but every time I would think about it, I was a bit intimidated. I needed just the right time and mood for this undertaking. So, on a recent dreary day – April showers (with hail) no doubt – I decided why not? Today was a good day to bake babka! A brownie babka no less. I used the recipe from Buttermilk by Sam that consists of a vanilla challah dough and a brownie batter layer. Babka is a sweet yeast bread that’s braided and buttery and swirled with a gooey filling such as chocolate, Nutella or cinnamon. Typically baked in a loaf pan, whether babka is bread or cake is somewhat debatable. Some babkas are topped with a streusel or covered with a simple syrup, furthering said debate. But mostly you’ll recognize babka by its unique shape and pretty swirls. Or maybe because you remember this Seinfeld episode where Elaine “got the babka.” The good news is that although time consuming, it’s really not very difficult to make, and even better to eat.
Pull-apart cinnamon bread
In my world, cinnamon rolls are the perfect indulgent treat to enjoy in front of the fireplace with a cup of coffee while opening gifts on Christmas morning. Or any and every morning between Christmas and New Year’s for that matter. Sadly, most years I find that making cinnamon rolls falls to the bottom of the list in my frenzied holiday prepping. When my kids were young, monkey bread (the easier and way-distant cousin of cinnamon rolls) was often the Christmas morning treat. At least until the year I caught my mom’s oven on fire baking monkey bread in her angel food tube pan. Who knew that the buttery sugar and cinnamon mixture would slowly leak to the bottom of her oven. (Sorry mom) This year in the spirit of Christmases past, I made Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread from Sarah Kieffer. This is brilliant. It gives you the satisfaction of a cinnamon roll with the fun of monkey bread.
Challah bread ups your morning toast game
Avocado & Egg Toast | Overnight Crème Brûlée French Toast
There aren’t many things better than the smell of warm bread baking in the oven. Well except for eating that warm bread with a big slab of melty butter smeared on top. Bread is one of the world’s oldest foods. In fact, Egyptians were buried with loaves of bread to provide sustenance in the afterlife. (Hmm, perhaps one can live by bread alone.) Most of us probably remember our moms or grandmas baking bread; and depending on your age, you may remember bread machines being a big trend in the 90s. But chances are you may have never made your own bread. Well, now is the time. Baking bread has been extremely popular during the pandemic. The act of making bread with your own two hands provides the ultimate fulfillment. It’s comforting, relaxing and provides a form of creative expression. Plus, the end result is delicious and makes everyone in the house happy. I recently made my first challah bread that beyond just giving us thick slices to enjoy, lent itself to a breakfast of avocado and egg toast one morning, followed by a custardy blueberry French toast the next. (And I think my husband snuck in an afternoon BLT.)
Dessert for breakfast (part 2)
Cranberry orange scones and Thanksgiving morning pie
My favorite morning routine this time of year is to sit quietly by the fireplace and enjoy a cup of coffee and a warm scone in all its buttery gloriousness. Pretty close to perfection. This is how I plan to start my Thanksgiving day. I’ll take my time and look leisurely through the lists I’ve made and figure out my prep and oven schedule for the day. When everyone else wanders down the stairs, they can help themselves to coffee and cranberry-orange scones, yogurt and homemade granola studded with dried cranberries, or dare I say, pumpkin pie!
Stress baking: food for the soul
What a year 2020 has been. Three months into the year and the pandemic became real in the U.S. and stay-at-home orders were the new norm. Six months into the year and my dear dad unexpectedly passed away. And now, three months later, my beautiful home state of Oregon, along with the rest of the West Coast, is on fire. This past week I’ve felt stuck in my house more than ever. In an effort to stop obsessively checking the evacuation level and air quality maps, I ended up in my kitchen. Stress baking. Anxiety cooking. Call it what you will.